My soapbox to proclaim on hockey, football, politics, life. Spotlighted will be the Montreal Canadiens, and the San Diego Chargers, at least until the Vancouver GlassSmashers' inaugural NFL season.

Sunday, 1 September 2013

Should Dalton Thrower play for the Hamilton Bulldogs or the Vancouver Giants?

Regarding Dalton Thrower, I hope he has a good rookie camp and then a good camp in Hamilton but is sent back down to his junior team anyway. There are already so many young defencemen there, we don't have any room for him. Jarred Tinordi, Nathan Beaulieu, Greg Pateryn, Morgan Ellis, Darren Dietz and Magnus Nygren are already slated to play for the Bulldogs, and there won't be a lot of icetime or powerplay or penalty kill minutes to go around.

Better to make him go work under Don Hay with the Vancouver Giants, in a really good organization, get Brendan's father to whip him into shape, get his game and his confidence back . He needs to have a year where he's a dominant defenceman, plays a tonne of minutes in all situations, and for things to fall into place for him. That's what he needs, to cleanse his palate of the bitter Memorial Cup season last year.

There is some reciprocity too, in that the Giants appear to need him and want him to play a big role. The coaching staff will rely on him there, and will play the heck out of him, as this quote from the Vancouver Province shows:

“Dalton would be a huge asset to our club this season as he has the ability to quarterback a power play. He’s a physical presence and would be an asset to our group,” said Giants’ Executive Vice President and General Manager Scott Bonner, who also added, “Being a local boy, it would be a great way to finish his junior career and he could really help a younger group like ours.”

Then, next summer, the Canadiens blue line could look radically diferent, with Douglas Murray, Francis Bouillon, Raphaël Diaz, Alexei Emelin and Andrei Markov all possibly reaching UFA status if they're not extended. Add in Greg Pateryn reaching RFA status in Hamilton, and there could be a big shakeout, with Bulldogs moving up to the big leagues, and that should open up some slots in Hamilton for him.

It's not entirely clear exactly what happened in Saskatoon last season, but he needs to overcome that and have a season befitting a second-round pick's expected performance, and then he can graduate to a higher level.